Moderation, Enjoyment of Life, Tranquility, Friendship, Lack of Fear

Hope for the day

So Doug Jones won the Alabama Senatorial seat with 49.9% of votes against Moore’s 48.4%. In his victory speech, Jones declared the campaign had been about “dignity, respect and the rule of law”.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! As a follower of the thoughts of Epicurus I try to avoid in-your-face party politics. You can get those in a thousand venues. But all decent, civilised people who find bare-faced lying and bullying distasteful must be relieved to see a candidate as measured, polite and courteous as Jones. In his victory speech no point scoring, put-downs or sexist or racist. Just when we were despairing of the crudeness and verbal violence that pervades the American public space, at least some faith has been restored. One hopes the present unpleasantness is a passing nightmare and that we will awaken to a return to the more civil and bipartisan behaviour of half a century ago.

One Comment

I’m not all that glad about Jones winning in Alabama. While a Moore victory would have been disastrous, Jones only won narrowly, and only because the black turnout was unusually high; Jones worked as a lawyer prosecuting KKK members. In a more regular election, you can expect Alabama to elect another pro-Trump Republican, driven by support from a conservative white population largely indifferent to Trump’s tastelessness.